Monthly Archives: April 2014

So last night I was pondering what to feature for today’s Frugal Friday. Thankfully I was pondering this while stirring a small batch of granola so viola, the answer came to me!

If you are a fan of granola I really hope you’ve already tried making it. If you are a fan of Trader Joe’s and buy theirs…shame on you! It is is a super delicious, easy and inexpensive thing to make. I whipped up a small batch last night while I was cooking dinner, and it was so good we kept picking at it long past dessert. In fact I had a breakfast meeting this morning with an amazing spread, and I missed out on all of it because I was full of granola!

Granola, and muesli (the unbaked granola) are very versatile, and frankly full of whatever your heart desires. In this case since I don’t eat it daily and I love the rich color and tastiness, I include a touch more than a wee bit of butter and sugars 🙂

What I used: (these are good amounts for one or two people)

4 cups oats

1/3 cup sliced almonds

1/3 cup cashew pieces

1/2 c brown sugar

1 cube and 1/2 cube of butter

1/3 cup honey

What I did:

Preheat oven to 325F, when you’re done mixing it should be ready

Melt the butter in the microwave

Add oats, nuts, and sugar to a big bowl, mix it all up

Add honey to the melted butter and mix

Add the liquid gold to the bowl of goodies and stir it all up until everything is coated

So be honest, are you guys getting sick of cheese based sauces? Cause I kind of have one more….
Okay, since we have been doing roux based cheese sauces, I thought I would introduce you to one of my super duper easy dishes. To be honest, I think this picture shows the one and only time I have actually made it, but because it is so classic and so simple it is theoretically one of my favorites!

Okay, so basically it is homemade mac and cheese, but in this case with chicken and broccoli, but again it is one of those versatile dishes where you could throw in any protein and veggie, or leave them out altogether. Unlike most homemade mac and cheeses which are baked, this is designed to be more like the classic Mac n Cheese/Kraft Dinner (shout out to the Canadians in the room)…from your childhood, so no baking at all. Again, composed of just cooked pasta, cheese sauce, grilled chicken and steamed veggie…

What I did:

Make a cheese sauce:

Make a roux of butter and rice flour (this will make it GF)

Slowly add milk whisking as it thickens.

Make it thinner than a typical sauce, and add a handful or two of cheese, which will further thicken it up.

Make some macaroni

Chop up some grilled chicken (I keep cooked diced chicken breast in the freezer at all times, defrost for a minute in the microwave and you’re good to go.)

Steam a bit of veg

Mix and serve!

Anyway, another super simple way to use a basic cheese sauce. Also this cheese sauce would do just fine in the freezer, so make a big(ish) batch and then freeze for even easier prep. So if ya’ll are getting sick of the creamy sauce-y dishes, I would love some suggestions for what to feature next. Consider the polls open in the comments. What do you want to see me make next?